Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Translation: Godtl
The lights never go out at a securities firm.
From dawn until afternoon, the domestic market burns hot, and after that, the overseas market catches fire.
And that's not all.
The foreign exchange market operates 24/7, requiring shift work.
Because of this, there wasn't a single day when the lights were off at the securities firm.
But the Prime Grade department was a bit different.
Unless there was an important trade or significant market volatility, employees in the Prime Grade department didn't come to work.
"I'm so jealous. I heard the Prime Department employees get insane incentives."
"What exactly are the conditions to get in there?"
"Even HR doesn't know. They say the CEO just picks one person each time by looking at their profile."
"What? So they don't even hold interviews? They just pick based on profiles?"
"Yeah. That's how everyone's been selected so far."
It was baffling.
How could anyone gauge a person's ability just by looking at their profile without an interview?
But the astonishing thing was that, so far, not a single person selected for the Prime Grade had caused any issues.
"But don't the Prime Department folks barely come to work?"
"Right."
"Then why are they all gathered today?"
"Oh, you haven't heard?"
"Heard what?"
"It's already spreading like wildfire inside our firm. The CEO is going head-to-head with the short sellers targeting Tesla."
"Huh?"
Even if someone didn't trade overseas stocks, anyone working at a securities firm knew Tesla was Wall Street's plaything.
It wasn't for nothing that Tesla's CEO, Musk, kept whining about it.
"Wait, isn't Tesla rumored to be on the verge of bankruptcy lately due to poor performance and production delays?"
"Yeah. That's why the Wall Street short sellers are having a field day."
"But our CEO went long on it?"
"Yep. Now you get why the Prime Department employees aren't going home? They're on 24-hour emergency duty. Heh heh."
"No way. But going long on Tesla in this situation is insane, right? No matter how much that stock is always at war between shorts and longs, one side is way too dominant right now."
Objectively speaking, that was true.
But wasn't there a saying?
In financial markets, anything can happen.
"Still, this is a bit..."
But there's a limit to everything.
Boarding the Titanic as it's sinking is practically suicide, isn't it?
"How much money did he put in?"
"No idea. But the rumor is it's in the trillions."
"Trillions!?"
Just hearing it made their stomachs churn.
Sure, CEO Jeong Jin-ho had made a fortune over the years, but losing trillions of won would be devastating.
"...Huh?"
As the overseas trading team chatted—
"Huh? Wh-what's this?"
"What? What's up?"
"Tesla's stock price is suddenly skyrocketing."
"Huh? Seriously?"
A thought suddenly struck them.
"D-don't tell me it's the CEO?"
"Isn't the price surging because someone's flooding the market with buy orders?"
Stocks are simpler than you'd think.
When there are more sellers, the price drops. When there are more buyers, the price rises.
And if the price suddenly spikes, it means buy orders have surged.
In other words, CEO Jeong Jin-ho might have dumped trillions of won worth of buy orders all at once, causing this phenomenon.
"Wouldn't the SEC arrest him for market manipulation? This is blatant price rigging."
"True. But luckily, it doesn't seem to be because of us."
They quickly figured out why the stock was soaring.
It was all because of a social media post by Elon Musk.
His bombshell announcement: he planned to buy out Tesla at a 20% premium over the current share price and take it private.
That's why the stock was pumping like crazy right now.
"Seriously, isn't this guy out of his mind?"
Ever since we acquired 6% of Tesla's shares for 4 trillion won from the funds, our Prime Grade department employees had been working in rotating shifts around the clock, maintaining a 24-hour emergency response system.
It was to ensure we could react immediately—no one knew when something might blow up.
"It—it's happening."
Those were the first words I heard from Manager Seo.
"President. I-it's really happening."
"How could something this absurd...?"
Just as the research department had warned us, our department staff also had a negative outlook on this Tesla investment.
There simply hadn't been a single positive catalyst in sight.
But it seems positive catalysts aren't something that just appear from the outside.
Looking at how Tesla's CEO, Tusk, was creating one himself—
"B-but is this for real? Is he really going to buy out shares at a 20% premium and take the company private?"
"How much would that even cost?"
"Tens of trillions of won. But does Tusk even have that kind of cash on hand?"
Tusk's wealth is tied to his Tesla shares.
Currently, he holds a 20% stake in Tesla.
To take the company private, he would need an additional 31% stake to gain control—which would require at least 20 trillion won.
But even securing 31% isn't enough to privatize the company.
Shareholder consensus is required.
Meaning, unless he secures over 90%, he can't just take it private outright.
And that would require an astronomical amount of money.
"But we can't just dismiss this—didn't he explicitly state on his SNS account that he already has the funds ready to cover that kind of premium?"
If this were just baseless rumors, the stock price wouldn't have surged like this.
The sudden pump was solely because Tusk himself announced on his SNS that he would be buying out shares.
"What if this is a bluff?"
"Then we're in deep trouble. Even if it's not an official company statement, once the CEO announces something on his personal SNS, he's accountable for it. And if he suddenly says it was all a joke, that's straight-up market manipulation."
This was no trivial matter.
Because it wasn't just some rogue individual's antics.
This involved trillions of won at stake.
Especially since, thanks to this bombshell announcement, countless Wall Street firms that had been heavily shorting the stock were now taking massive losses.
Some were even getting margin-called as their leveraged positions were forcibly liquidated amid the rising stock price.
The very short-sellers Tusk despised had been wiped out in one fell swoop.
Which left only one remaining question:
Did Tusk really have that kind of money?
"Seems like even Tusk didn't expect this level of reaction. He hastily posted a follow-up on SNS—saying he's already reached an agreement with Saudi sovereign wealth funds."
Saudi Arabia—that made sense.
With their financial power, they could easily secure a controlling stake and take the company private.
"If Saudi money really comes in, wouldn't the stock surge even higher?"
The share price kept climbing.
At this rate, a 30% increase seemed entirely possible.
"Then, for the next few days, we should probably just hold—"
I reached out toward Tesla's stock price.
Even to me, holding onto the shares instead of selling now seemed far more profitable—
"——!"
The moment my finger touched the stock price—
A sound like a speaker blowing out slammed against my eardrums.
"If we were to unwind our position, how long would it take?"
"We wouldn't be able to sell everything in a single day. The reason we didn't shock the market before was because we traded OTC with multiple funds. If you want to liquidate the position now, it'll take days."
"What if we sell the shares directly to other funds at market price, like we did in the OTC deal?"
"Then we can cleanly unwind without causing too much market disruption—just like when we bought them."
A block deal.
A trade executed away from the open market.
It's a method typically used when we need to sell off large quantities of stock we're holding.
If we were to thoughtlessly dump everything onto the market, it could cause a massive shock, and we'd struggle to sell at our desired price.
Funds and institutions also prefer block deals.
If they were to blindly flood the market with buy orders, prices would skyrocket uncontrollably.
"Is there any institution looking to buy large quantities of stock right now?"
"Probably not many. Institutions or funds that purchase stakes of this size usually have a long-term investment perspective. But there are also aggressive funds that target short-term profits."
"Then look into those."
The employees looked startled.
"Y-You're already unwinding your position?"
"Wouldn't it be better to wait a bit longer...?"
Sigh. "Is it because we have some new hires in the department? Why is everyone suddenly developing a sense of self? Do I need to remind you all what our company motto is?"
But with just one sharp reprimand from Manager Seo, everyone fell silent.
"President. We'll look into it right away."
"Yes. Please do. As quickly as possible."
"Understood. If there are any further instructions—"
Just as things were wrapping up (?) warmly—
My intuition shook me once more.
It felt like someone was yanking me back just as I was about to stand up.
It seemed this wasn't just about selling.
What am I supposed to do?
Unsure what this intuition was pointing to, I jotted down several possibilities in my notebook.
Then my hand stopped at one particular option I'd written.
"...?"
For a moment, I doubted my eyes.
Just to be sure, I checked multiple times, but each time, my intuition nudged me insistently, as if urging me to take a closer look.
"Manager."
"Yes?"
"Once we finish unwinding the position, could you open a new one for me?"
"Huh? Uh, what kind of—"
"A short position. For the same amount—4 trillion won."
"!?"
The manager's eyes, perfectly composed just moments ago, began trembling violently.
＊＊＊
Slurp—
"Mmm. The coffee here is the best, you know. The view's not bad either."
"I wouldn't say the view is great. It's just construction vehicles coming and going."
"Well... can't be helped. Who knew this area would become the heart of semiconductors? But the building itself is nice, right? The interior's well done too."
"Yes. And only guild members can use this, correct?"
Vice President Kang Ji-hwan had just finished touring the so-called "guild landmark," personally planned and built by President Jeong Jin-ho.
"Now that you're one of us, feel free to come by often."
"The guild seems quite large. When I joined last time, the welcome was... overwhelming."
"It's pretty sizable. When a game gets old, maintaining a guild long-term is tough. But thanks to Jin-ho's management, members stick around for years."
And now, they've even built this landmark.
No wonder the guild members' loyalty is so high.
"That said, it's not like the members can gather often. As you know, everyone's at different stages in life—some run businesses like me."
"Managing a securities firm and an exchange must be exhausting enough, yet you still play the game so diligently. President Jeong is younger than me, but sometimes, he seems far more seasoned."
"It's a matter of caliber. He didn't reach that position at his age for nothing. Ah, right—what was it you wanted to report? You even tracked me down on my day off."
Vice President Kang Ji-hwan had no intention of disturbing the chairman on his vacation.
But given the nature of the matter, he had no choice but to rush over.
"So... Jin-ho made a 4 trillion won bet on Tesla and profited?"
"Yes. Thanks to Elon Musk's sudden bombshell announcement in the early hours, he made roughly a 25-30% profit."
"30%... that's 1.2 trillion won!?"
"Indeed. An astronomical sum."
"Did he really make that in just a single day?"
A trillion won wasn't some neighborhood corner store's petty cash.
But Jin-ho made even such astronomical sums look effortless.
"The problem is that Elon Musk had a meeting with Chairman Jeong Jin-ho before making that statement."
"W-what? Why on earth—?"
"It was regarding the Close AI stake acquisition... But afterward, the chairman purchased Tesla shares in bulk."
"And that bastard Musk just dropped that bombshell afterward?"
"Yes."
First, he sent hearts racing with the Volmageddon incident.
And now he's pulling another stunt like this without hesitation.
"It seems this isn't the time for vacations after all. Gather all the executives immediately."
Chairman Hwang rose abruptly from his seat.
The group's top priority—
Now was the time to protect Jeong Jin-ho at all costs.
＊＊＊
The stock market had been turned upside down by Musk's statement.
Truth be told, Musk knew it himself.
Taking the company private was fundamentally impossible.
Yet he'd gone and done it anyway.
He was well aware of his own impulsiveness.
And did he regret it?
No. Not one bit.
Watching the Wall Street short-sellers who'd been tormenting him and his company meet their ruin filled him with exhilaration.
Though... he did feel a twinge of regret.
He never imagined things would escalate this far.
"You know exactly why you're here, Mr. Musk. Do you have any idea how much the markets have been shaken since you posted that on social media? And after causing such turmoil, you did absolutely nothing. This is blatant market disruption and stock manipulation."
Days after the post went viral, the SEC launched a full-scale investigation.
They quickly uncovered the truth—
That Musk had no actual intention to take Tesla private.
Which was why they'd summoned him for questioning.
"You must have seen my follow-up post. I'd already finalized discussions with the Saudi Public Investment Fund."
"Then where is this alleged contract?"
"Well... it was a verbal agreement."
"The Public Investment Fund's official statement contradicts your claims. Care to explain?"
"..."
The investigator sighed deeply.
"Frankly, Mr. Musk, we understand your frustration. We're well aware how much Wall Street has harassed you and your company. You wanted to crush the short-sellers—and it worked remarkably well. But this crossed the line."
"It was just a social media post. There was simply a miscommunication with the fund regarding the details."
Since it wasn't an official company statement but a personal social media post, they couldn't punish him too severely. Though "not too severe" still meant the SEC was planning to impose tens of millions in fines at minimum.
"But what we really want to know is this—what's your connection to Gwangun Securities' Chairman Jeong Jin-ho?"
"...Excuse me? Why are you bringing up that name now?"
"Are you genuinely unaware, or pretending not to know? We have reports of a meeting between you two before this incident."
"I'm asking because I truly don't know. That meeting was about the stake transaction."
"Then I suppose you were also unaware that Chairman Jeong Jin-ho had taken a long position worth billions of dollars?"
"What?!"
He truly hadn't known.
No—why would Jin-ho suddenly...?
It made no sense.
Ah. Unless...
Perhaps after their meeting, Jin-ho had seen potential in him and his company, leading to that massive stock purchase.
Truly, genius recognizes genius.
Jin-ho, with his exceptional investment sense, must have recognized early on that Tesla would ultimately succeed.
"I never gave him any hints or promises. He must have simply seen our company's bright future."
Jin-ho hadn't directly given him money—just bought shares in bulk. Yet Musk felt strangely moved.
I really judged that man correctly.
"Then I suppose you're unaware of this as well?"
"What else are you referring to now?"
"That Gwangun has closed their long positions and initiated massive short selling instead."
"...What?"
But that wave of emotion was short-lived.
He'd thought Jin-ho bought Tesla shares in bulk because he believed in Musk and Tesla's future.
But no.
He'd bought simply because it was profitable.
And now that shorting seemed profitable, he'd taken massive short positions instead.
Capitalism is cold.